You may no longer be a youngster if

[Quenchcrack]

I remember pumping gas in a station that had the old glass tanks on top of a tall pump. The gas went into the glass tank first, then drained into your car tank. It only took silver dollars and gas was $.19 a gallon.

When I was in college, we only had one computer on campus and it filled a whole room.

I did all my homework with a sliderule.

A bag of Bull Durham was $.07, including papers.

The first TV program I remember was "The Lone Ranger".

I listened to "The Shadow" on my crystal radio.

Eisenhower was the first President I remember.

Dang, I am really getting OLD!

[sandpile]

You might be little long-toothed if you waited every week for the Louisanna Hayride to come on the radio.

You might be a little aged if your favorite all time comedian was RED SKELTON.grin.

You might be older than dirt if you can remember rolling around on the rug(before carpet) laughing at AMOS & ANDY. Coming through on the battery powered radio.

You might have some age on you if --You at one time thought someone from OKLAHOMA was from JAPAN.GRIN.

Chuck Bennett

HAPPY NEW YEARS from the Pandhandle of Texas.

[irnsrgn]

YOU MAY NO LONGER BE A YOUNGSTER if:

When people learn your date of birth, They say "Oh, you were a War Baby.

Your remember going to the train station to see Ike Isenhower on his Whistle Stop Tour and you still have your "I Like Ike" button.

You remember taking the sugar cube polio vaccine in grade school.

You remember when milk was delivered in glass bottles with the paper stopper in the top.

You had milk in school in little pint glass bottles.

You remember when the family car had suicide doors on it.

A computer had buttons you pushed and then pulled a handle on the side to operate it.

The First TV set you ever saw was in black and white and in a store window on display.

You picked the meat cut you wanted and it was wrapped in white butcher paper and it was tied with a string.

Farmers came to town in a high wheeled wagon or buggy pulled by a team of horses and they had on a white shirt and tie with a suit coat and tie and clean Big Overalls.

Your mail addressed to "John Doe's Older Sister " arrived the same day it was mailed to the right address by a carrier walking his route with a big leather bag.

The Police and Sheriffs care had a big Siren on the fender with a Red Light in the End of it.

Soda Pop came in Glass reusable bottles.

Your Mother made most of the family clothes on a Treadle Sewing machine, and she patched them too.

It was considered a terrible thing if a woman went out without a hat and it was considered unlady like if they wore pants.

Children were expected to be seen and not heard and any adult could CORRECT an unruly child and did so.

The monthly family budget was equal to the cost of one tank of gas today.

If you got one toy for Christmas you were considered fortunate.

Working on Sunday was considered a SIN.

Work days were 10 or 12 hour days, 6 days a week.

You walked to school and were considered fortunate if you had a Bicycle.

You had a paper route with a 100 or more customers and were paid 25 cents a day to deliver it.

Your family took a ride in the country on Sunday afternoon to enjoy the scenery.

You lived in town and had a chicken yard in the back yard and a garden.

You looked forward to your weekly bottle of Soda Pop that cost a nickel.

Grandma and Grandpa were cared for at home, and were just part of the family.

Doctors made Housecalls and accepted payment in Eggs or Chickens, etc.

You had a real Ice Box and block ice was delivered daily.

There were Cold Storage plants where your family rented a Freezer Box.

You could go to the DIME STORE and buy most things for a dime. And you ogled the bulk candy behind the glass showcase.

[gerald]

If you've ever regularly used a post drill to drill a hole because the shop didn't have electricity.

[Glenn]

Remember when the spring house actually had a spring in it?


> The family car had suicide doors on it.
I can see the eyebrowls go up on this one LOL

[meco3hp]

Remember when you stepped on the starter to start the car or truck?

your mom and sisters kicked the maytag gas engine with the kick starter to start the washing machine?

when you had to get help from 3 other guys to pick up a 2hp engine.

when you had to fill the drip oiler and water hopper on that engine to run it each day.

you used a "nubber" to get the seed corn ready for next year.

I turn 37 today, and I've seen or done all of this!

[one_rod]

If you know how to set up a motorcycle magneto using a cigarette paper.

(In fact if a bike with a magneto on it was your daily transport, and not some antique restoration project.)




one_rod.

[yesteryearforge]

meco3hp
I still do those things with the exception of getting the corn in with a nubber.
evidently youre into hit & miss engines also

[ThomasPowers]

I've done a slew of that stuff fairly regularly during the last 10 years; but I participate in a bunch of reenactment stuff. The local historical farm still does all their plowing, planting and harvesting with horses and has a privy---a big shock to a lot of the "tourists" when they need to go---they finally put in a toilet out by the parking lot due to the complaints...

BTW packard made an inline *12* that would start with a nickle balanced on edge on the radiator cap without it falling over...my father told me about it having seen it done at his father's gas station where he would work after school.

Thomas

[sandpile]

You may have some age on you if--You can remember seeing the old men arguing over the seats on the bench at the court house and post office. So they could watch the women get out of the suicide doored cars.Grin.

You might be old if you can remember how the ol bittys talked about the new girl in church. "DID you SEE the LIPSTICK SHE was wearing??"

Those same ole biddys would fall out, today.GRIN.

If you are old enough to remember going to the show, drinking a coke and eating popcorn-- all for the grand total price of a quarter.

Chuck

[rthibeau]

I remember coming back from overseas (Germany) when I was in the Army and had a layover in New York City's LaGuardia airport. I went to the cafeteria to get lunch and a bottle of beer. I hunted for 10 minutes for a bottle opener somewhere and finally asked the checkout girl where it was. She took the bottle out of my hand, twisted the cap off and handed it back to me with a strange look. Only about 50 people were staring at me and all I could think of was "Wow, twist off caps, what will they think of next??" Not many years earlier I resorted to a pair of pliers to open a can of soda from a machine (no more pull tabs).

[MetalMonkey]

WildRoot Hair Cream

Metal Ice Trays

Metal Rollerskates

15 cent Cokes

Going to visit my Grandma in Farris, OK and having the Ice man deliver Ice twice a week.

And I'm only 39



Bob :)

[J W Bennett]

It's amazing how much the world has changed in our short time spent here.

[Glenn]

When was the last time you used a bumper jack to change a tire on the car.
When was the last time you saw a tire iron? Know how to use one?

Speaking of cars, when was the last time you saw finder skirts, curb feelers, or a necker knob?
When was the last time you road in a car that had bench seats, or a rumble seat?

[Mainely,Bob]

You know how to sharpen and use a drawknife,2 man saw and a scythe,and still own one or more of them.
You remember what the 3 rings on Rhinegold beer stood for.
You remember when a gallon of gas cost a quarter cause you were pumping it after school back then.
You remember sitting around the radio instead of the TV.
You can pull a tire from a rim and replace it using just hand tools(not on a split rim).
You`ve ever used a wheelbarrow with a wood deck and a steel wheel.
You`ve ever had to work a full day with a mule(the 4 legged kind).
You sit on the ground and whittle during a long discussion(usually with a piece of grass in your mouth).
You remember when welding rods were color coded and welders were paid "milk money" for welding lead coated and galvanized pipe.

[Charles R. Stevens]

I'm younger than some, older than others. I am old by Glenns test, in fact I have a mule setting in the back that was pulling a toothed harrow to day, I'm just a hundred years out of step.

[HWooldridge]

If your first knife was a single blade Barlow - and you were allowed to take it to school...
If your grandpa gave you a .22 single shot Stevens for your first rifle at age 7 - and shortly thereafter let you hunt small game for the family table...
If you remember steel beer cans - and know how to make a tennis ball mortar from them using lighter fluid as the propellant...
If you know what a real Dodge Power Wagon was...
If you remember when Bob Gibson set a record by pitching 17 strikeouts during a World Series...
If you thought Raquel Welch was one of the hottest women ever put on the planet...

Those are things that pop up in my memories - and I'm only 51.

[ianinsa]

I remember when you could go to the rural co-op and ask for power parafin for your wolsley water pump and not get one funny look.
Ian

[pkrankow]

I had to look up single tree and double tree, all my experiences around draft animals have been less than good so I stay away.

Block and tackle is rather easy. Remember you can rig to advantage or disadvantage and change your ratio by 1 without changing your rate, simply by reversing the rig with respect to the load.

The continuous chain hoist is in my dad's garage in an greasy cloth flour sack. We pulled an engine with it once out of a Chevy Blazer because the preferred lifting mechanism had a bad cable at the time.

Never used a post hole digger with a motor, and I have planted a few dozen posts in my time.

Haven't messed with an adz or a fro...yet.

Wound the pull start because you broke the return spring or it never had a return spring to start with? Yes and yes. I own the first (now repaired) and was helping show the second. I was not going to miss a few fine days fishing over a broken spring either.

Does a college sports team count as a team of animals? How about the pet dog pulling a wagon as a kid?

No I8 engines here, V8, I6, V6, I4, I2, single. Won't touch an I5 if I get a choice.

For GobblerForge

I have set points on a variety of different engines using a variety of different methods. The only engine I have with points now is my old Johnson 3hp outboard, and I set it with bell wire and a test light. Never ran better, if only I had time to run it! My Dad doesn't believe how well it runs, and he used the motor growing up.

Helped pour lead on oakum for some iron sewer pipes growing up once.

Glenn, my Wife's '04 Malibu has a real tire iron from the factory. Yes, she knows how to use it to change tires (and so do I).

Mainly, Bob, I own and use a drawknife, and sharpen it. I own a couple 2 man and 1 man saws, but have no clue how to sharpen them. Does a sickle count? Doesn't get used much but is handy when I need it.

My aunt used to have and use a wheel barrow with a steel wheel and flat wood deck. I used it at her house growing up too. I don't know what happened to it.

HW, I remember being allowed a knife at school. Teachers would ask to borrow it because they knew I kept it sharp. It was always returned promptly too.

I turn 34 this year.

Phil

[Tobago]

I'm old. Not that old but old. Don't squat about draft animals, grew up in the city.

Excelsior,
Ted

[Glenn]

my Wife's '04 Malibu has a real tire iron from the factory. Yes, she knows how to use it to change tires (and so do I).

Tire iron I had in mind was the ones used to change the rubber on the rim, by hand. Funny looking hammer too.

[pkrankow]

I have seen a number of cars that had this cheap stamped sheet metal thing in it to take off and re-tighten the lugs. I bent one for a friend in college (I didn't mean to).
Phil

[Glenn]

I am talking about a tool that is about 2-3 feel long and about 1 inch diameter with one end flattened and rounded. The hammer is about a 8 or 10 pound sledge with one end drawn out to about 3/4 or 1 inch thick and maybe 3 to 4 inches wide with a 3/4 inch round on the end. You use the hammer to break the tire bead, then insert the tire tool and pry the rubber from the rim. Reinsert the tire tool and pry the lower tire bead across and over the top of the rim, removing the tire. Lots of muscle and beating with the hammer. Once removed a new rubber tire can be put on the rim. If the tire has a tube, the top bead needs removed, the inner tube removed and patched. The inner tube is then inserted back into the tire, and the top bead of the tire put back onto the rim. Careful not to pinch the inner tube, as that causes a leak and you get to do it all over again. This was in a era before the new fangled tubeless tires became available.

To patch a tubeless tire, you remove the nail or whatever, take a round rasp looking hand tool, enlarge the hole, and insert a rubber plug. Once you had several plugs in a tire, you could remove the tire from the rim, trim the rubber plugs from the inside, and insert a inner tube to get the final wear out of the tire.

The lug nut tool shaped like a L with a socket on the end of the short leg. It is to remove the lug nuts in order to remove the tire and rim from the hub. This is usually to change a flat tire and replace it with the spare in order to get to a service station where the flat tire is then fixed.

Ok maybe this explains the process a little better, click here

[pkrankow]

OK, both tools I was describing are "lug nut tools"

The one in my wife's car (and I think my cavalier too) is forged iron, and about a foot long or so, 1/2 inch diameter or so. I don't remember what car the sheet metal thing was in, it was a friend's girlfriend's car and a small favor was changing the tire.

Phil

That video is rather cool, that guy looks like he has done it before. Makes busting a tire on a machine look like nothing.

Phil

[Drq]

I've. . .
used a two up to pull logs out for firewood,
used a block and tackle to get bales into the loft ( though I'd have to look up the formulas in my seventh edition machinery handbook),
used a chain hoist to pull out a straight six out of a kb-3
used a post hole digger to fence in half a quarter,
squared beams with an adze
started an engine by getting the fly wheel going fast enough by hand (and finally made it run smooth by forcing a 2x4 into the flywheel "to make it work")
I've helped thresh with a steam engine
cut grass with a sickle mower and a scythe
I've been excited when I finally got power to my shop
got birthday presents as a youth that included a rifle and an axe of my own
I've moved from a dirt floor to wood to cement in my shop
I know that getting a power hammer doesn't make you a better smith, and that getting a second one doesn't do much either
and that no matter how many tools and toys I buy I'm always going to be looking for one more. (anyone have a cheap small mill they would part with ? )
I know that chinking a cabin isn't racist, that John deere made a really handy little bulldozer, and that there's not much you can't measure with a piece of string.

I'm 23.

If you walked by me in a mall I'd probably look like any other young punk.

I'm not bragging about my experience, nor I'm I exaggerating any facts. Just thought I'd ask all you "old guys" not to give up on the younger generation just yet. There's hope for us yet.

They Young People have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning all their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else.
| -Aristotle